Buying a stake

As soon as he opened WeChat, he saw that the Heavenly Court Chat Group had erupted into chaos over who knew what again.

A closer look revealed that Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen had actually started fighting, leaving everyone in the Heavenly Court grumbling.

The Heavenly King of Vast Vision complained, "That damn monkey deserves a horrible death! He keeps fighting here at my Southern Heavenly Gate. He's practically tearing the gates down! What am I supposed to do?"

The Heavenly King of Growth still found time to gloat. "Haha, good thing I switched shifts. Otherwise, I'd be the unlucky one."

The Heavenly King of Vast Vision hurriedly replied, "Growth, don't celebrate too soon. Once that monkey starts fighting, he won't stop anytime soon. Your shift starts in a few hours. Let's see what you do then."

"Vast Vision, have a little decency. Don't jinx me."

Just as the two immortals were happily bickering, Sun Wukong suddenly sent a message. "Vast Vision, you must have a death wish. Just you wait! I'll come raid your house in a bit."

The moment that message appeared, Vast Vision started retracting his messages at lightning speed. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Reading the immortals' conversation, Chen Hao couldn't help grinning like an idiot.

Then Princess Iron Fan suddenly asked the group, "Fellow immortals, has anyone seen my Red Boy?"

Shortly afterward, the local earth god replied, "Princess, I think I just saw him in a brawl with the Great Sage and Erlang Shen."

"Oh, he's driving me crazy! That little rascal never stays home. Fellow immortals, please help me think of a way to keep him in line. Thank you, earth god. I'll go find him now."

Clearly, Red Boy was no easy child to raise, either. Princess Iron Fan had it tough, worrying herself sick over him.

While he was reading, Chen Hao suddenly heard someone calling his name.

He looked up and saw Liu Yan hurrying toward him with a woman who looked like her assistant.

The security guard heard the commotion too. When he turned around, his eyes nearly popped out. "M-Ms. Liu."

Coming up to him, Liu Yan said, a little breathlessly, "Chen Hao, you really came!"

Chen Hao gave her a slight smile. "Of course. I'm a man of my word. Once I make a promise, there's no taking it back."

His unpredictable remarks made Liu Yan laugh. "Let's talk inside."

But just as Liu Yan was about to lead him in, Chen Hao stopped and glanced at the silent security guard, making the man shudder.

"President Liu, security guards are the first face a company presents to the outside world. Put some snob who looks down on people here, and he'll drive away every business opportunity. No wonder Blue Light Pharmaceuticals has been going downhill these past few years."

Liu Yan hadn't expected such a merciless rebuke from Chen Hao. Still, this wasn't the first incident, and she knew the guard's character better than anyone.

"Wu, go to HR and complete the handover. You're fired."

"President Liu." The guard was utterly dumbfounded. For a moment, he was too tongue-tied to say anything and could only stare pleadingly at Chen Hao and Liu Yan.

Liu Yan had no interest in dealing with him further and led Chen Hao inside.

They had barely taken two steps when a Bentley drove past the three of them. Chen Hao looked at it. Wasn't that the car Liu Yan had driven last time?

Noticing his confusion, Liu Yan smiled with a trace of bitterness. "The company has been having some cash flow problems. I sold the car."

"What?" Chen Hao couldn't understand it. Had Blue Light Pharmaceuticals really fallen so far that its general manager had to sell her possessions to cover its funding shortfall?

After thinking it over, Chen Hao made up his mind. He had to help Liu Yan as soon as possible. How could he bear to let his future wife suffer like this?

Blue Light Pharmaceuticals' office building stood ten stories tall, its mottled exterior walls bearing the marks of age.

The lobby was rather deserted, with hardly anyone around. The three of them soon reached Liu Yan's office.

Liu Yan's office was simply furnished, with an executive chair and a set of sofas for visitors. A distinctive fragrance greeted Chen Hao as he entered, prompting him to steal another glance at Liu Yan and wonder whether it was the same scent she wore.

As soon as they sat down, Liu Yan asked her assistant to leave.

The moment the assistant was gone, Chen Hao got straight to the point. "I want to buy a stake in the company!"

This caught Liu Yan completely off guard, though she wasn't overly shocked. Smiling, she said, "Chen Hao, first, I need to tell you that the company's current situation is complicated. A small sum won't solve our cash flow problems, and we've been losing money year after year. Isn't this a rather poor time to propose buying a stake?"

In Liu Yan's experience, businesspeople in Huaxia generally invested in rising businesses, not declining ones.

Anyone who stepped inside could see what shape Blue Light Pharmaceuticals was in. For Chen Hao to announce that he wanted to buy a stake as soon as he arrived was genuinely surprising.

Then she looked at him with a complicated expression, disappointment evident in her words. "Second, is this the way you said you could help me?"

Chen Hao picked up an orange from the table in front of him and began peeling it. "Of course not. Buying a stake is just one condition."

When it came to business, Liu Yan had met far more people and experienced far more than Chen Hao. Yet his words left her unable to figure him out.

Still, she didn't mind. Since he had come to do business, she would set their personal relationship aside and discuss it properly. "All right. How much equity do you want?"

Eating his orange, Chen Hao asked, "How much would one million get me?"

Liu Yan's brow furrowed slightly. Blue Light Pharmaceuticals might no longer enjoy its former glory, but even in decline, it still had considerable substance. Its market value remained in the hundreds of millions. Now Chen Hao was offering a mere million to buy a stake while claiming he could save the company. Her favorable impression of him took a real hit.

She had thought that, although Chen Hao was poor, he was upright and kindhearted—a friend worth having. Now he seemed to be nothing more than a shortsighted man. Apparently, she had overestimated him.

With a smile, Liu Yan said, "One million probably wouldn't even get you one percent."

"Oh," Chen Hao replied. After a pause, he added, "I'll put in ten million for ten percent."

Liu Yan was indeed a formidable businesswoman. The mention of ten million stirred something inside her. An injection of that amount really could ease Blue Light Pharmaceuticals' immediate crisis. Yet she remained outwardly unmoved and replied calmly, "Mr. Chen, let's set aside whether you actually have ten million. Even if you do, why are you so sure I'll agree to your proposal?"

The switch from "Chen Hao" to "Mr. Chen" told him that Liu Yan had grown wary of him. "Because of you!"

When Chen Hao suddenly stared at her with a smile, Liu Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She could only reply politely, "Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, but there seems to be a misunderstanding between us. We've known each other for less than two days. If you think that alone will make me give you equity, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

"Is that so?" One corner of Chen Hao's mouth lifted, and he suddenly reached out to pick up the fruit knife on the table.

The sight made Liu Yan's heart lurch. Her brows drew together. "Chen Hao, what are you doing?"

Chen Hao said nothing. He lifted the knife and lightly drew it across his finger. Blood immediately welled up and dripped onto the table.

Even the normally composed Liu Yan began to panic at his bizarre behavior, afraid he might do something outrageous to her.

After cutting his finger, Chen Hao quickly took out his phone, ready to retrieve the furnace ash. "What happens next may be beyond your imagination and overturn everything you know. This is a highly confidential trade secret. I hope no third person will hear about what happens here today."

Utterly baffled, Liu Yan could only sit there and watch in silence.

When Chen Hao conjured some black powder out of thin air and sprinkled it onto his cut finger, Liu Yan didn't say a word. She simply watched quietly, determined to see what trick he was going to pull.

As the black furnace ash covered Chen Hao's finger, the bleeding stopped instantly.

Chen Hao proudly held up his finger. "Well? Amazing, right?"

Looking at his grubby finger, Liu Yan frowned in bewilderment. "What is this? A magic trick?"

Clearly, she had completely missed his point and instead treated his string of strange actions as a joke.

Chen Hao felt helpless, but he didn't blame Liu Yan. After all, no normal person could immediately accept something like this upon seeing it.

In the end, he could only pick up the knife and tell her, "Looks like you won't believe it unless you experience it yourself."

Seeing Chen Hao raise the knife and move toward her, Liu Yan could no longer sit still. She grabbed a sofa cushion beside her to fend him off. "Chen Hao, what are you doing? I'm warning you, don't do anything rash! Ah!"

Before Liu Yan could finish, Chen Hao had already cut her hand. Blood instantly stained her fair skin.

Chen Hao conjured another pinch of furnace ash out of thin air and pressed it directly onto her wound. "Look at your cut."

His actions had terrified Liu Yan so badly that she was trembling all over. Only after hearing his words did she timidly look down at her finger.

At that glance, however, the fear and unease in her heart were instantly replaced by overwhelming shock.

She stared blankly for a long while before cleaning the furnace ash off her hand. After inspecting her finger over and over without finding the slightest trace of a wound, she looked at Chen Hao with her mouth hanging open. "W-what... what on earth is going on?"

The cut had been completely real. So why had the wound vanished in just a few seconds? Or had it healed instantly?

Either possibility completely overturned everything Liu Yan knew.

Seeing the expression he had finally been waiting for, Chen Hao smugly crossed his legs. "Well? Isn't something this good worth giving me ten percent of the company?"

Liu Yan clearly still hadn't recovered from her shock. "Instantly healing a wound? How is that possible? It makes no sense!"

Chen Hao chuckled. "Nothing's impossible when I'm involved. I'm not bragging... hey, what are you doing... ah!"

Before he could finish showing off, Liu Yan had deftly picked up the knife and slashed his thigh. The sudden pain made Chen Hao bare his teeth and suck in a sharp breath. "What are you doing?"

Wearing a perfectly harmless expression, Liu Yan replied innocently, "I just wanted to verify it again. I still can't quite believe it."

Chen Hao was so upset he nearly cried. "Then why didn't you cut yourself?"

"I'm afraid of pain."

That single sentence left Chen Hao powerless to argue. If she hadn't been his future wife, he would definitely have returned the favor with a cut of his own.